


Ranunculus

by TeaRoses



Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: F/F, not exactly au but i ignored the canon pairings
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-11-11
Updated: 2018-11-11
Packaged: 2019-08-22 06:18:22
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 712
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16592447
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/TeaRoses/pseuds/TeaRoses
Summary: Hermione gets way too flustered around Fleur.   Written for the femslashficlets "Language of Flowers" prompt table challenge for the prompt "ranunculus."





	Ranunculus

Fleur kisses Hermione on the cheek often, when she is saying hello or good-bye. Hermione tells herself it's a European thing. They kiss people. It's no big deal. Probably she did it back during the tournament too and Hermione just forgot. But she doesn't think she would ever forget being kissed by Fleur. And she hates the way she finds herself watching to see how many other people Fleur kisses. 

Hermione is an intelligent girl but sometimes she's good at lying to herself. At telling herself that she doesn't seek Fleur out, that she doesn't look forward to the scent of her hair with every kiss, that she doesn't wish she could kiss Fleur whenever she wanted to, without needing an excuse.

When she finally does admit to herself that she feels dizzy every time Fleur's face nears hers she tries to herself it's the whole Veela thing. Sure, usually it only works on men, but maybe sometimes it works on just anybody. She tells herself this even though she once wrote a ten-foot paper about Veela attractiveness and she knows it has limits. She is far past the limits.

Hermione isn't sure what to do. Usually when she wants to impress someone she tells them some obscure fact about potion ingredients but Fleur is a very talented witch herself and probably knows most things that Hermione might tell her. Anyway, boiled frog saliva doesn't exactly say "Kiss me."

What do men do when they like women? She considers asking Harry and Ron that but she would never hear the end of it if they figured out why she was asking. And as much as she loves her friends they don't seem to be inundated with offers of female companionship, so maybe they wouldn't even have good advice.

Eventually Hermione decides on flowers. It's a terrible cliche but it always seems to work in Muggle films. She isn't going to do anything ridiculous like send Fleur a thousand roses. A bouquet will be enough. Hermione being who she is, this also means hours of researching flower meanings. Finally she decides on ranunclus flowers, and when she sees the bouquet she is glad, because they are delicate and intricate and make her think of Fleur.

She's halfway to the room where Fleur is staying when she remembers the Fleur's name means "flower" in French. Probably people are always giving her flowers and making stupid jokes about it. Fleur is probably sick and tired of it. Hermione can't bear to just throw the bouquet away though, so she decides she will give it to her and at least refrain from any bad puns.

When Fleur opens the door Hermione can't say anything at all. She just stands there, holding the flowers in her trembling hands, and blinks. Fleur stands before her in a lace dress with her hair framing her face and Hermione is overwhelmed and afraid to speak. Fleur looks intrigued though, and tells Hermione to come into the room.

"These are for you," Hermione says, abandoning any attempt at brilliant conversation.

Fleur takes the bouquet. "It is beautiful," Fleur says. 

"People must give you them all the time," Hermione says.

"I love flowers," Fleur replies. "I even keep a vase for them." She picks up a ceramic vase from a nearby table, puts the flowers into it, and magics some water for them. Hermione watches curiously as she plucks a petal from a ranunculus.

Fleur stands in front of Hermione and leans forward so that Hermione's face is nearly touching hers. She brushes the petal over Hermione's forehead, then her cheeks, then her lips. Hermione is still trembling.

"Where I come from, ranunculus flowers mean that you think someone is attractive," Fleur says in her warm rich voice.

"I know," says Hermione. "I-- I know."

Fleur lets the flower petal fall to the floor and kisses Hermione. A real kiss, on the lips, that cannot be explained away as European custom. And the wave of desire that washes over Hermione cannot be explained by Veela magic.

"If I were to give you a flower," Fleur says, "I would give you ambrosia."

'Ambrosia means that you return someone's feelings,' thinks Hermione to herself. Then she kisses Fleur again, and stops thinking in words.


End file.
